Storytelling Week 2: Ca(t)llisto

There was a great following of Diana, goddess of the hunt. Those who followed her devoted their lives to serving her. They abstained from not only from sex but from the other sex entirely. They dressed very plain and made no attempt to draw any attention to themselves, fearing that they may scare away their prey if they did.

One day, Jupiter, while surveying Earth and its inhabitants, caught a glimpse of one particular girl deep in the woods. Her name was Callisto. Jupiter noticed right away that the girl was a follower of Diana, so he devised a scheme to get her. He decided that he would disguise himself as a deer and, knowing Callisto would follow him, planned to lead her deep into the vast wilderness where Juno could not find him.

So Jupiter turned himself into a beautiful deer and successfully lured Callisto away. He then transformed into a human, and explained to Callisto who he was. Callisto, still in shock from what she had just seen, was powerless to the great Jupiter. She knew that she was tainted and that, sooner or later, Diana would find out.

What never crossed Callisto's mind was Jove’s wife. Jupiter believed that he had been out of Juno’s scope, but Juno, knowing the tendencies and infidelities of her husband, sensed something was happening and tracked Jupiter, seeing everything that happened. Foreseeing that Callisto would be giving birth to a boy in nine months, Juno decided that waiting and being shamed by Diana would be a worse fate than whatever she would do.

Callisto, after several months, could no longer conceal from Diana what she was carrying in her womb. Diana, seeing the curve of Callisto's abdomen, berated her and exclaimed that she must leave and be alone so that she does not bother anyone else with her infidelities.

Time passed and Callisto gave birth to a bastard, Arcas. Although Juno had previously restrained herself, this straw broke her back, and, overcome with rage, she turned Callisto into a cat. Callisto, realizing what had happened after seeing her reflection in a pool of water, let out a curdling groan.

Although a cat, she still had her memory and emotions, so Callisto went looking for her son. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months to years until finally Callisto found Arcas laying under a large tree. She slowly approached him and rubbed her face on his breast, purring feverishly. Arcas felt a connection to the cat and returned the favor, petting the cat until the great Sun had finished his duty for the day. When the day ended, Arcas headed home, but not before turning around and giving the cat one last kiss on the the top of her head. He thought he saw a tear roll down her cheek as he turned around for the final time.

(Image Information: A very sad cat; Web Source: quotes.lol-rofl)

Author’s Note: This is a version of Ovid’s Callisto. In the original story, Callisto is a nymph who serves Artemis. One day, Zeus sees her beauty and rapes her. Pregnant, Callisto cannot conceal her shame any longer and is banished from being with the other nymphs anymore. Disgraced, she lives alone until Hera exacts her revenge for bearing Zeus's bastard. Hera turns Callisto into a bear. Then, one day, her bastard son, Arcas, sees her in the wild. Before he drives his arrow unit his mother's bosom, Zeus stops them and turns them both into constellations in the sky.
Instead of Callisto being changed into a bear, and then Arcas hunting her but Jupiter stopping them and turning the two into constellations, I had Juno change her into a cat because cats rule meow. Also, the ending is happier because they both live, but also much sadder because they cannot end up together.

“Callisto” from a translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses translated by Tony Kline. Web Source: Poetry in Translation